If John McCain wins the presidential election, he’d be the oldest man ever to do so at the time he attained the office. I realize one of the big challenges of the campaign is to fight the impression that he’s just too old, but the Botox is out of control.

I’ve got a lot of problems with Botox in general (from an aesthetic standpoint) — it makes people’s faces look weird, particularly actors and TV talking heads, because it renders them unable to express appropriate emotion. But rarely is it as bad as it appeared today on John McCain during the Mitt Romney endorsement.

Look at the YouTube — his entire forehead is frozen so badly his brows don’t even move. His eyes are immobile (he probably had the crow’s feet done too). The whole top of his head looks cadaverous, like it’s been coated in funeral parlor wax.

It should start to wear off in a few weeks but lordy me, that’s one of the worst jobs I’ve ever seen.

It’s really frustrating when you’re looking at dailies and the actors just can’t give a good performance because their faces don’t move. Or worse yet, they get shot up during production, and one day their faces move and the next week they’re immobile, and you’ve got to try and edit together a performance that is odd and inconsistent. (Then there’s the story of how Melanie Griffith showed up after a hiatus on Bonfire of the Vanities with a boob job. THAT must’ve been a challenge.)

Sometimes it’s less of a problem, the good actors know doctors who can keep enough movement in the forehead it doesn’t affect their performance so badly. McCain obviously didn’t have one of those.

They just released a MedWatch on Botox too, recently. Seems to be some breathing issues with those that are at risk. They say children, but the elderly are almost always at risk for odd side effects too. Which is why most that get that treatment? Are middle aged, and usually safe to use it.

I think i’ve seen it go through once in my pharmacy. Otherwise? It’s also hardly ever covered by any insurance policy because it’s a cosmetic(and therefore vanity)drug. The only times it would be covered? If there was actual reconstruction going on(and a Dr calling and berating the insurance company to do it!). Obviously not with CrazyTrain though. *grins and looks at the picture* Ewwww. So i do wonder what bank account paid for those shots, or else the full ride Caddy insurance did.

We’re cool. I got it. You might find my response kinda interesting. I’ll be offline for the rest of the night because I’ve got some serious reading to do, the kind that doesn’t really get along too well with multitasking…

I was listening to Howie Carr (reich wing radio host out of Boston…there is no Air America Radio where I live) on the way home when this press conference came on. The whole time Howie couldn’t believe the body language between McCrazy & Romney….very stand offish and McCrazy appeared to be mad. I bet it was the botox! LOL

If the job was done well, great. I’m just not a great fan of vanity drugs like that. *shrugs* Then again, i’m the 30 year old with a witch’s streak of silver that i refuse to dye to match the rest of my dark brown hair. It can be used for reconstruction, not just vanity. Just…most of the time it’s used for the latter not the former.

Oh I’m entirely sympathetic, I understand that we live in a world where it’s hard for folks to even compete if the perception is that they’re getting “too old.” Which is why I don’t harangue newscasters or politicians for its use (and most of them do use it) — it’s the lengths they went to with McCain. They REALLY overdid it. He looks really, really strange.

If it is the case that his mind is not sound, I surely hope that gets alot of attention. W has the same symptoms. We cannot do that again. Fair game, I’d say. The rage and snark of Dole certainly worked against him, as I recall. McCain was quite petty and belittling in one of the debate with Mitt. Not appealing.

There’s a sign on a store in Greenville, Maine in huge letters that reads: IF YOU DON’T STOP SMILE ON THE WAY BY.

Poor John McCrazy…he wouldn’t be able to do that.

I know that place – in Beaver Cove. Old Mr. Gartley used to live there, and rented out canoes. Did you know him? We would stay at Lily Bay when I was a kid, and you could rent a canoe and tell him what campsite you were in, and he would paddle it up to your site by 7:00 the next morning – probably, what, a 5-8 mile paddle? He was I’d say 60’s at the time. He was a good old fellah. Where are you in Maine, Kay, if you don’t mind my asking?

*grin* Nothing wrong with that. My mom’s dyed her hair since i can remember. I just ended up being the weird little tomboy that could care less for makeup, and dye jobs in my thick hair? Turn into insane productions to get it all washed out. I did it when i was in my teens, but at this point it doesn’t bother me to have my hair look like it is. The witch’s streak is just an eccentricity that popped up on its own and i left because i liked it. Most 30 year olds i know would see it and go WTF, hairdye STAT! *shrugs and grins*

With you though? Weapons indeed. I’m sure you put it to good use, and as Jane mentioned. Media and some areas of corporations, which you’ve mentioned you’ve been a huge part of. My weapon is looking tiny, meek, and cute. Right up until i lay down the law regarding idiots that think i just give them narcotics. *evil grin* They never see it coming. I’m nice, but i’m not THAT nice(or stupid).

No doubt, the repub machine is gearing up to bash Obama. He’ll take some hits but he’ll survive. I’m not sure about McCain. He does seem to be getting crazy with age . His off the cuff remarks are troubling. The ‘bomb bomb Iran’ especially. Who TF makes a joke out of more war?

But, I digress. My point is that the mockery and the criticism will be off the charts. He’ll be getting it from all sides. He’s setting himself up for a huge fall. If he hadn’t run, he would have had statesmanlike appeal. By November, he’ll be viewed as an old dottering fool.

No kidding. Just put him on the no-fly list and make him apply for a visa to return to the US. After all, that is what his very own invented Homeland Security department is demanding of us, his subjects…..Jeeesh.

One of the things that bothers me is the excessive blinking. There’s something teasing at the back of my mind as a possible cause, but I’ve got to let that wait until tomorrow when I have better access to medical books and people. Don’t try to tell me he’s nervous or has dry eyes. If he’s that nervous he had no business being president, and the dry eyes thing won’t wash either given the number of (even non-prescription) eye drops available.

To me it went even beyond that. My “ruh roh, that’s a symptom of something” klaxon went off. I’m off to be rocked in the arms of Morpheus, but I’m going to prowl around the medical world and see if I can recall what’s tickling my brain tomorrow.

Nevermind blanket warrants…blanket pardons will be in order…if he actually leaves that is…He’s lazy, I think W will leave…I’m not sure about Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz though…they are still fully entrenched…

We have to remember that Rummy and Wolfy are still here. That is important.

We have followed this stuff for years, and I’ve never, ever seen anything quite like it.

There is an article in the LATimes that says that it is an earthquake “swarm” and that it has happened before…but….there is a dormant volcano in Mexico…30 miles South of Mexicali, which is where the constant tremor are centered.

Except when the (now former) governor of Kentucky issued a blanket pardon to everyone in his administration for any and all crimes associated with a Merit System (KY version of civil service) fraud investigation. You know, hiring cronies and incompetents and firing those who were protected without cause because they were Democrats.

OT- but GordonM- something I’ve been wanting to know about Maine elections- are there primaries or caucuses to choose the D contender for House and Senate races? Only of practical interest for ME-01 (I think), but still, that is an interesting D race (know you are in ME-02)

No, it’s standard pardoning power. But the governor issued it as a blanket in the middle of the investigation. Some indictments had been handed down but no one had gone to trial. The governor wound up negotiating with the state AG’s office and pleading to a misdemeanor for his role.

Don’t forget, Ford’s pardon of Nixon is one of the areas leading us to today’s mess by making the Rs think there was a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card. Start with Nixon’s pardon. Tack on the pardons of Cap Weinberger and other just before they went to trial in late ‘92 for Iran/Contra and it’s no wonder Scooter Libby felt he was privileged. He had plenty of precedents to reinforce those thoughts.

Everybody pushes the envelope, and usually get away with it. But pardoning self is not part of the deal, and a blanket pardon to admin members probably wouldn’t be either. Cap and the others were specifically named, and the offenses, too.

There’s an actual Medwatch, a warning out for it, VG. Something that just cropped up recently, all told. I got notice of it at work too, since it’s one of those things that we’d handle every now and then. Although in my four years i’ve only seen it dispensed once.

“Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.”

all offenses he may have committed or taken part in during the period from x to x doesn’t sound very specific to me

alias- thanks, just read that Medwatch article. The impression I got from the NE article was that the botox was administered by docs (or others) not approved to administer- not the quality of the botox itself. Does this fit with your understanding? Cause I can sure see that using too much, and/or not injecting it exactly correctly could lead to such effects.

Up until just a few months ago, I though McSaint looked really ill, as if maybe a relapse had occurred Then suddenly he looked much better. I chalked it up to a makeover, but maybe it was Botox. His pallor became almost a healthy glow.

I hope Keith O’s language about W the Fascist gets picked up quick and loud. The direction is all there of torture, fear, loss of civil rights, a rigged Sup Court, rigged elections, and, oddly, so little pushback, accountability. To have him name Fascism and point out the ongoing lies..what a voice.

I was more struck by the fidgeting and jerky arm/hand movements, especially on the right, and the eyes tracking from down left to midline over to down right. Maybe the eye movement thing could be written off as a secondary effect of forehead Botox, in that the different feel post Botox, can make people unconsciously move things, in this case the eyes, on the border of the paralysis. But the upper extremity repetitive movements can’t be explained on this basis. There is nothing here diagnostic of any syndrome I could name, but these movements, rather than the lack of movement in his forehead, are what strike me as being the most changed from the last time he had this much camera exposure that I paid any attention to, back in 2000. And, of course, there is his new impulse control problem (”Bomb, bomb, bomb; bomb, bomb, Iran!”). That could relate to a true movement disorder (basal ganglia) only via a process affecting widely separate areas of the brain, but he could have something just in the frontal lobes (impulse control), because frontal release can sometimes cause these random fidgeting movements, or tics.

Especially in someone Senator McCain’s age, you should always consider complications of medical treatment as an explanation for any physical peculiarities. Perhaps the original observation — that his looks like a botched Botox job (on which I remain agnostic, as I don’t treat the idle rich, so I have no experience observing this occupational hazard of that class) — is essentially correct, except that the Botox wasn’t being used for cosmetic purposes, and thus it isn’t surprising that there was not a good cosmetic effect. Botox, including injections to the forehead if headache is part of the problem, is also used to treat painful dystonic syndromes. These can arise from any number of conditions, some of which could also involve abnormal involuntary movements. Certainly other pain treatment modalities are much more often used than is Botox for pain, but a presidential candidate would probably want to avoid the most common treatment modality for severe chronic pain, opioids, and so would be more likely to use more exotic modalities.

There’s that kind of risk with any kind of medication. But i’d imagine that would make any mild side effects worse, or cause toxicities if done wrong. Which the warning mentions the toxicity and the reaction of such. But too much given at once would definitely bring on the toxicity, and some physicians ARE that stupid. And the idiots doing it without training.

Don’t forget, Ford’s pardon of Nixon is one of the areas leading us to today’s mess by making the Rs think there was a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card. Start with Nixon’s pardon. Tack on the pardons of Cap Weinberger and other just before they went to trial in late ‘92 for Iran/Contra and it’s no wonder Scooter Libby felt he was privileged. He had plenty of precedents to reinforce those thoughts.
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The legality of Ford’s pardon of pardon never got tested in court. Similarly, the meaning of the phrase “except in cases of impeachment” has never been tested. Does it mean that an impeached president cannot pardon? Does it mean that an impeached, convicted, and removed president cannot pardon? Does it mean that a president cannot pardon once an impeachment inquiry has been opened in the House? Does it mean that an impeached president’s pardons automatically become invalid? WTF?

The mask facies would typically be later than the hand tremor. I too was impressed more by the hand and arm movements than by facial immobility, but what I could see, admittedly all I have to go on is this low resolution YouTube video, looked more proximal, and less repetitive, than a Parkinsonian tremor. It certainly is, as you suggest, possible that the gross movements I could see are semi-purposeful attempts to be doing something, anything, with his hands and arms to mask a finer resting tremor of the hands that I couldn’t see.

If it is PD, on the other hand, I’m not sure that that’s the sort of life-threatening or disabling illness that is the most obviously legitimate public concern in a politician running for high office. Janet Reno’s PD was much further along when she ran for governor of FL, and it really wasn’t germane to her ability to hold that office. And if it is PD, they can’t keep it a secret much longer. It’s a disease that’s more up front and obvious than insidious. You look worse than your true level of disability, so it’s not something that we have to worry that stringpullers will conceal and minimize to allow themselves to continue pulling the strings of a disabled figurehead president.